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North East invention to sink flood threat

A North East entrepreneur is pioneering an innovative storm drainage system which claims to cut the growing threat of flooding to homes and businesses. Damone Armstrong has invented a system which stores excess rainwater that cannot initially be handled by existing drains. Instead, the ‘StormPod’ keeps the water underground until it can be slowly released, preventing major surface flooding.

The system has been rewarded with a £20,000 Research and Development for One NorthEast to assist in its development. Mr Armstrong believes StormPod will help his Washington-based Invert Group seize up to 10% of the UK’s £100m stormwater management market, with future opportunities targeted in the huge North American marketplace. He said: “The significant increase in impermeable surfaces such as roads, precincts, car parks and roof areas on commercial and residential developments over the last ten years, has placed a massive emphasis on how town planners, developers and local authorities manage rainwater from their developments to create less flooding. “This is where our StormPod storm water management system comes into its own.”

A prototype of the StormPod system is being trialled at Newcastle University’s Research Centre for Innovation and Design with a manufacturing date being set for March next year.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .